VERSUS THE BUSH


CHAPTER I

Belleville


"The land of our adoption claims
Our highest powers,--our firmest trust--
May future ages blend our names
With hers, when we shall sleep in dust.
Land of our sons!--last-born of earth,
A mighty nation nurtures thee;
The first in moral power and worth,--
Long mayst thou boast her sovereignty!

Union is strength, while round the boughs
Of thine own lofty maple-tree;
The threefold wreath of Britain flows,
Twined with the graceful fleur-de-lis;
A chaplet wreathed mid smiles and tears,
In which all hues of glory blend;
Long may it bloom for future years,
And vigour to thy weakness lend."

Year after year, during twenty years' residence in the colony, I had
indulged the hope of one day visiting the Falls of Niagara, and year
after year, for twenty long years, I was doomed to disappointment.